The extreme weakness of doors in modern day homes and other buildings making them unable to resist forceable entry to any reasonable degree is a very serious and widely recognized concern or problem. Even in costly homes, a shoulder against the door or a stout kick with the foot will open it when locked or bolted. If the door panel itself is made strong, the door will still yield due to the inherent weakness of the jamb structure and the mounting of the striker plate which is relied upon to interlock with the bolt. The use of a strong lock and lock bolt is of no avail so long as the inherent weak arrangement of jamb and striker plate mounting is adhered to.
The problem has been recognized in the prior art and solutions to it have been proposed. One example of a patented prior art solution is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,764,173, issued Oct. 9, l973 to Griffith. While Griffith successfully reinforces the usual striker plate and associated jamb, he does so with a rather large and complex plate attachment which spans the entire door frame and constitutes an unsightly and unacceptable element to most home owners. In comparison to the Griffith solution, the present invention successfully strengthens or reinforces the vital striker plate structure without changing or detracting from the conventional uncluttered appearance of the door frame and adjacent structure. The reinforcing plate forming the main element of the invention is concealed beneath the conventional striker plate during use and also concealed by an overlapping part of an attendant seal or weather strip.
Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description.